US crude oil production and global oil prices

During 2013 rising crude oil production in the US contributed to relatively stable global crude oil prices which sat at around the same annual average levels of the previous two years.

US events impacting the oil market

Domestic crude oil production increased 1 million bpd, rising more than the combined increase in the rest of the world. It reached the highest level in 24 years and the increased market the largest observed annual increase in US history.

Production levels exceeded imports during several weeks for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Improvements in transportation were made in 2013 allowing crude oil from Cushing, Oklahoma and the Bakken, Permian and Eagle Ford tight oil formations to better reach refineries, reducing the need for foreign crude oil.

Global events impacting the oil market

During 2013 China accounted for almost one third of the growth in global demand and surpassed the US to become the world’s largest importer of crude oil.

Global unplanned supply disruptions averaged approximately 2.6 million bpd, 0.7 million bpd higher than 2012. The largest volume outages were encountered in the OPEC countries and reached 1.8 million bpd.

International crude oil prices were relatively stable last year due to higher US production and seasonally elevated Saudi Arabian production which offset the outages elsewhere.

Over the course of 2013 total liquid fuels production from members of OPEC fell by 0.9 million bpd. Non-OPEC liquids fuel production (concentrated in the US) grew by over 1.4 million bpd in 2013, more than offsetting the decline in OPEC production.